Reed-organ pipe.



A. PARSONS.

REED ORGAN PIPE.

APPUCATION FILED SEPT. 11. 1913.

Patented June 1, 1915.

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THE NORRIS PETERS CO.,PHOTO-L!THO1. WASHINGTON. D. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ADIN PARSONS, OF BONDI, NEAR SYDNEY, NEW SOUTH WALES, AUSTRALIA.

REED-ORGAN PIPE.

Application filed September 11, 1913.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ADIN PARsoNs, a subject of the King of Great Britain, residing at No. 22 Bennett street, Bondi, near Sydney, in the State of New South Wales and Commonwealth of Australia, have invented new and useful Improvements in Reed- Organ Pipes, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in reed organ pipes and has been specially devised in order to permit the more general use of free reeds and also to provide reeds which can be more easily tuned and will keep tune for a longer period than those hitherto known.

It is well known that owing to defects in the hitherto known constructions of the reeds of musical instruments and especially the reeds of pipe organs they require to be tuned frequent intervals and that the difficulty of securing each reed to each socket and the tongue to the reed and adjusting same generally renders the tuning a tedious and expensive operation and in many instances prohibits the use of free reeds (from which the better music is obtainable) in favor of striking reeds because the tongues of the former are more easily adjusted than the tongues of the latter and are more easily manipulated than by a tuning wire. These improvements in the reeds comprise the novel construction of the boot. the boot cover or block, the reed and reed socket, and the attachment of the tongue to the reed more cheaply and with better functional effect and result than heretofore.

In carrying this invention into effect the whole of the boot except the foot is constructed of sheet metal, preferably brass, while the foot is of pipe metal. The boot cover replacing the block is of sheet brass, and it is provided with a rim adapted to fit within the head of the boot and also with a central socket adapted to receive the end of the reed, the said cover being provided eX- ternally with a pipe socket. The reed socket being central of said boot cover evenly distributes the weight. The tongue is fastened to the reed in such a Way that it will remain in tune much longer than hitherto, and the reed is so fastened in the socket that it is more secure in position and more effective than heretofore. According to these improvements the tongue is afiixed by soldering to a member which is fastened across the Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 1, 1915.

Serial No. 789,242.

open face of the reed, the latter fitting tightly in its socket and having a. stop to prevent it being driven in too far.

In order that these improvements may be easily understood they will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawing, which-- Figure l is a sectional view of a boot and reed portion of a pipe organ as heretofore generally constructed; Fig. 2 is a similar view of the same parts constructed accord ing to the present invention; Fig. 3 a front View of the reed as used in the latter with its tongue removed.

Referring to Fig. 1 the boot f of cast metal is surmounted by the solid cover or block a which has an eccentrically positioned orifice whose lower part is the socket for the reed Z) and whose upper part is the socket for the pipe h. The reed b with its tongue (5 is jammed in the lower orifice by a wooden wedge e and is adapted to be tuned by the tuning wire 9.

In Figs. 2 and 3 the reed Z) is adapted to be inserted and jammed in a tapered socket 2' leading from the orifice for the pipe 71 in the metal. cap or cover a, the stop 9' preventing it from being driven too far in. The tongue cl is aflixed by soldering to the crossmember 0 which is similarly atlixed by soldering to the face of the reed b. The cover a has a depending rim is which is adapted to lit into the top of the boot f, the latter being made of sheet brass and having a foot Z of cast pipe-metal which offers facilities in the regulation of the wind hole. This foot is affixed to the boot f by tinsmiths solder.

Free reeds give the best music but are rarely found in a pipe organ because of the difiiculty of securing the tongue to the reed and of securing both in the reed socket with a wooden wedge. Securing tongues to reeds with a wooden wedge has always been more or less unsatisfactory and the present simple method of soldering the tongues to the reeds and of securing the reeds in the reed sockets without wooden wedges secures several important results. The tongues being soldered to the reeds are a fixture and the tones can be produced in precisely the same way as in either a harmonium or socalled American organ.

The reeds are swaged around a tapered steel mandrel and the reed sockets are also swaged around the same tapered mandrel and thus have a perfectly corresponding taper so that by inserting the reed in the socket and giving it a tap or two on a hard substance the reed becomes wedged or satisfactorily jammed in place and will not loosen or fall out by reason of the vibration of the tongue.

Tongues should be made to approximate to the requirements for producing the desired tones, and after they have been soldered to the reeds the tuning is accomplished by filing and manipulating them to requirements.

No. 18 gage brass-l3irn1ingham gage is suiiiciently stout for boots from tenor C to middle G and it is swaged around a mandrel, and the joint fitted and silver soldered. The cap or cover a replacing the old block is a disk of brass, l l gage being suitable for the octave from tenor C to middle C, while 16 gage may be used for octaves above middle C. The rim K of this cover is of 18 gage brass with the joint silver soldered and the rim silver soldered to the cover. The reed b is say of 18 gage brass.

Striking reeds are flattened near the middle so that in filing away for a flat face for the base of the tongue the top of the V opening may not be cut away too much, and to effect this a mandrel filed to a fiat face is used. Free reeds are swaged to shape and the openings filed to the size required for the tongues, and the cross piece C to serve as a bed for the fixed end of the tongue is then fitted by beveling the open ing outward on each side, and said piece correspondingly beveled is silver soldered therein. The filling-in piece is slightly flatter than the curve of the reed so that in filing awav for a flat bed for the tongue the piece may not be filed through.

The check bar or stop 3' is soldered to the back of the reed with tin-smiths solder and it insures that the reed shall be always in the same position in the reed socket and so prevent variation of sound.

The reed socket 2' is preferably made of 16 gage brass and the opening therein for the tongue must be wider than the width of the tongue to allow the latter to vibrate without touching the sides of said opening.

The reed socket projects about one-tenth of an inch through the central orifice in the cap a and is beveled at such point and soldered to said cap. The pipe socket h,

made to the requirement of the particular organ pipe to be positioned thereon, sur mounts the projecting end of the reed socket and is similarly soldered to it.

I claim:

1. A reed organ pipe comprising a boot; a metal cap comprising a disk provided with a depending rim fitting into the top of the boot and with a central orifice; a reed socket having its upper end soldered in said orifice and projecting through the same; and a pipe socket surmounting the projecting end of the reed socket and soldered thereto.

2. A reed organ pipe comprising a boot; a cap mounted on the top thereof and provided with a tapered, depending reed socket; a reed having its upper end frictionally held in said socket; a tongue secured to said reed; and a stop carried by said reed for engagement with the lower end of the socket to limit the movement of said reed end into said socket.

3. A reed organ pipe comprising a boot; a metal cap comprising a disk provided with a depending rim fitting into the top of the boot and with central orifice; a tapered reed socket depending within the boot and having its upper end soldered in said orifice and projecting through the same; a reed having its upper end frictionally held in said socket; a tongue secured to said reed; a stop carried by said reed for engagement with the lower end of the socket to limit the movement of said reed end into said socket; and a pipe socket surmounting the projecting end of the reed socket and soldered thereto.

4,. A reed organ pipe com rising the combination, with a boot and its cap, of a tapered socket secured to said cap and depending within said boot; a reed having its upper end frictionally engaged in said socket and provided with a flattened face having an opening formed therethrough; a cross-piece arranged within said reed adjacent said opening; and a tongue soldered to said cross-piece.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ADTN PARSONS.

Witnesses PERCY NEWELL, H. R. HILL.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

